Is There Something in the Air? by Roberto Piumini

An amazing tribute to translation and a wonderful chance to announce a very big news for next year

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A “playful antivirus” made of words that cross borders and fly all around the world to enter the homes of boys and girls. The children’s rhyme about the coronavirus Is There Something in the Air?(Che cos’è che in aria vola?), written by Roberto Piumini, one of Italy’s most beloved children’s authors, will soon be available in over twenty languages thanks to the many translators who volunteered their efforts. Its rhymes about the coronavirus will ring out in English, French, Spanish, Galician, German, Russian, Dutch, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Czech, Swedish, Norwegian, Greek, Danish, Afrikaans, Hebrew, Polish, Croatian, Finnish and many other languages.

The project is the result of the joint efforts of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF), the Conseil Européen des Associations de Traducteurs Littéraires (CEATL), the International Federation of Translators (FIT) and the Italian translators’ associations Strade (www.traduttoristrade.it) and AITI (https://aiti.org/it).

As Roberto Piumini explains:

Words are presents, words are seedsthey’re gifts that we have plenty ofand if they’re good they’re all we need,when we’re apart, to grow our love

Even spanning the geographical borders we can’t currently cross.

What a better way to announce a stunning news for next year?The Bologna Children’s Book Fair is proud to launch the 1st International Convention on Children’s Book Translation, to be held at BCBF 2021. Stay tuned!